Unknown Young Woman: M.3-1939

Current Location: Founder's Entrance Hall Upper Landing

Titles

Unknown Young Woman

Maker(s)

Entities

Bust

Description

Bust. White marble. The sitter is turned to the front. The head is held forward, facing and looking a quarter to the right. The hair is in two ringlets either side, with the hair coiled into a knot at the back. The ears are uncovered. Her right shoulder is bare, the left draped. The dress is low cut, with a decoration of lace (?) across the bosom.

Legal notes

Presented by L.C.G. Clarke, M.A., Trinity Hall

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1939) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

19th Century, Mid#
Production date: marked AD 1839

Note

Theed worked for several years in the studio of sculptor E. H. Baily, before attending the Royal Academy Schools. In 1826, he went to Rome where he studied under several sculptors including John Gibson and Richard James Wyatt. Having established his reputation, especially as a portrait sculptor, he returned to London in 1848. He received many prestigious commissions from the Royal family and members of the court, such as his bust of Lady Augusta Stanley, secretary and confidante of Queen Victoria displayed nearby (M.6-1977). This portrait shows a fashionably dressed young woman with her hair tied in two side ringlets and coiled into a knot at the back. Her identity is unknown but she may have been an English aristocrat visiting Rome on the Grand Tour.